"We killed him. Stabbed him right in the neck, slow and painfully and even better yet. He didn't even see who killed him" yelled Suzy. Scarlett yelled back, "You son of a bitch" as she pulled the trigger. Nick felt a sharp pain as the bullet pierced the bottom right part of his stomach. Before anyone could react, Suzy aimed and pulled the trigger at Scarlett's head. The bullet grazed the side of her head as it went straight through her ear. As everyone around Scarlett looked at her stunned, Suzy shot again at everyone else as she helped get Nick back into the building behind them. Once behind cover, Suzy peeked up to see through the window. She saw Scarlett standing out in the street aiming at her despite the injury she had sustained. Suzy ducked in time to dodge the bullet that flew through the window. Scarlett assumed that she had gotten her so she looked at the closest person to her and said, "Go get me Nick". As they walked to the door, Suzy waited for them to walk in before she put a bullet in their head. Scarlett jumped as she aimed for the door. Suzy said, "Listen asshole. I don't want to kill you. I want to leave here with Nick in peace. You have your own problems, we do too". Scarlett screamed, "You killed Jerry. I can't let either of you leave". As she talked Suzy whispered to Nick, "Are you ok"? Nick said, "Yeah, as long as we can get out of here". Suzy looked around to find a way out. She looked down the hall behind her and saw a window. She said, "If you can crawl out of that window, I'll cover you".
Scarlett said, "Why are you so quiet, bitch? I know you can hear me". Just then Suzy stood up and shot two of the people standing near Scarlett as she ducked down before she was hit. Scarlett began to shoot in the direction of Suzy as Nick crawled down the hall. He was careful to stay low to the ground so Scarlett wouldn't spot him. Suzy stood up again and shot at Scarlett as she ran behind a nearby car for cover. Scarlett said, "You do realize you won't leave here alive. We have people and ammo". She then shot again at the window, as did everyone outside with her. Suzy, without standing up, shot in random directions in hope of hitting someone. As she pulled her hand down, she heard the short scream of someone as they fell.
Nick had made it to the window as he slowly stood up. It was the window that had the drawing on it. He looked at it again and then down at the fallout shelter that they were holding Suzy in. He ripped the drawing off as he slowly lifted the window to open it. He looked back at Suzy as she nodded her head. He then crawled out. Once Suzy saw he was outside, she sprinted for window. Scarlett saw her and shot at her, but she missed. She then said, "Everyone stay here, she's mine". She then ran into the house toward the window. When she saw the window, she saw Suzy had just crawled through it. Scarlett ran to the window to crawl through but right as she made it outside, she heard a gun pop and a sharp pain in her back. Nick had been hiding by the window waiting for her. As she fell to the ground, Suzy helped Nick up as they ran back to the railroad tracks.
Some of the others heard the gunshot and ran to the back of the house. They saw Scarlett laying there. Two men helped her up as she said, "go find them". As the two men helped her inside, several others began to chase after them.
Nick said, "We need to go to Mount Vernon. Ronny and Xavier said there's people there who can help us". Suzy said, "That's fine and all but first we need to lose these guys". She turned around and saw several people in the distance running after them. She ran into the forest with Nick. After placing him down behind a tree, she waited for them. When they walked close enough, she shot them. Then she helped Nick up and they walked along the railroad headed for Mount Vernon.
Meanwhile, back in the town, Scarlett was lying down on her stomach as someone was digging in her bullet wound. She was shaking in pain. One of the men near her said, "What are we gonna do if they escape". Scarlett grit her teeth as she said, "I won't let them escape. I know where they're headed. The one place people seem to think is --". She was cut off by her own screaming, as the person digging in her wound pulled out the bullet fragments. Scarlett said, "Mount Vernon, the 'Safest City on Earth'". As she finished her sentence, the person helping her wrapped up her wound. She then stood up and said, "I will kill them before they make it". She then pointed at three people and said, "You three are coming with me".
Meanwhile, Nick and Suzy walked slowly down the railroad tracks. Nick now was holding a piece of cloth on his wound. He tried to walk on his own but Suzy had remained close in case he were to fall. After several hours of walking, Nick said, "Wait stop. I need to sit down a moment". He then walked to the closest tree and threw all of his weight to his back as he slid down the tree, eventually sitting. Suzy looked around to make sure it was safe to stay. When she felt as though they were safe she said, "So why did you come back for me? You had the chance to leave. You had the chance to walk away unharmed". Nick said, "We have to stick together if we want to survive. Besides, back at the biker camp I saw Ronny being beaten to death by Zack. I had the chance to help but I didn't. Instead, I ran away, like a coward. I came back to help you because, I didn't want to do that again. We lost too many in this apocalypse". Suzy chuckled as she said, "Y'know it seems that even though the biters rule this world, it's really the living that we have to worry about". Nick looked down at his wound and said, "Clearly". He then stood up and said, "Ok, I think I'm good enough to walk again".
As the sun set later that evening, Suzy and Nick were in another small town. Suzy said, "It's getting late. I think we should rest". She walked up to a map of the train routes. She said, "If we stay here tonight we should be at Mount Vernon by midday tomorrow". In the train station, there were mattresses laid out as if people had lived here before. Nick sighed in relief as he laid on one of the mattresses. Suzy made sure to lock the doors as she laid down on a mattress herself. As she laid there, she couldn't help but feel like she was being watched, almost as if Scarlett had somehow followed her and Nick.
The next morning, Suzy and Nick got up early to make sure they made it to Mount Vernon on time. As Nick got up, he had noticed the bleeding stopped but he felt much more sore and pain than yesterday but he still forced himself to get up as they headed back to the railroad.
Finally, around midday, they saw what they were looking for. They saw Mount Vernon in the distance, just the sheer sight of it made Suzy and Nick smile. Suzy walked a bit ahead of Nick and said, "It's amazing to see that still somewhere in this world, we can live in peace". She then heard the clink of a gun. She turned around to see a man holding Nick at gun point. The man held the gun to Nick's head as he held Nick by his throat. The man said, "Don't you move any closer you prick". Suzy froze as she didn't know what to do. The man said, "You guys thought you could get away from us? You guys really are fucking stupid. Scarlett's gonna enjoy killing you". Just then, Nick took out his knife and stabbed the man in the stomach. The man let go of his grip on Nick as he dropped his gun to grab for his wound. Nick picked up his gun and aimed it at him. Suzy said, "Nick no. He's not worth the bullet. Let's go". Nick looked at the man and walked away. As they walked away, the man said, "Yeah, you guys walk away now, but when Scarlett gets you, you won't be so lucky". Neither Nick or Suzy looked back as they headed for Mount Vernon.
The man laid there in significant pain. He heard the crunch of shoes in the dirt and gravel behind him. He turned around and saw it was Scarlett. She said, "You let them get away"? The man said, "I'm sorry Scarlett. The boy pulled a fast one on me. There was no way to know he would attack me". Scarlett looked in the distance and saw Nick and Suzy were almost to the city entrance as she said, "You let your guard down. That was your downfall. You and I both know I expect nothing short of excellence". The man pleaded, "Please Scarlett, help me". He showed her the bloody slice in his stomach that had left a bloody pool. The man said, "Let me redeem myself". Scarlett stood right above him and said, "You and I both know you can't redeem yourself. You let Jerry's killers escape. However, I can help you. I can save you". The man had a hopeful and thankful look in his eyes. Scarlett said, "I can help you from turning when the biters come for you". The man's thankful look faded into terror as he saw the end of her gun aimed at his head.
Meanwhile, Nick and Suzy were almost to the entrance of the city when they heard what sounded like a gunshot in the far distance. They didn't pay any attention to it as they had seen a small group about to leave the city, likely on a supply run. As Nick and Suzy approached the group, they both stopped walking. Xavier and Frank stopped walking as well. The four looked at each other before they finally hugged. Then Nick and Suzy walked in with Xavier, Frank and the rest of their group.
YOU ARE READING
After The End
Short Story"Ronny said, "So how did you guys find pigs"? Omar said, "There have always been a few wild hogs on this island. But otherwise, most of the ones here were from the local farms". Ronny took another bite as Omar said, "It's unfortunate Ryan, Walter, a...
